Tag: Will Richard

Todd Golden and Florida’s Big 3 talk win over Arizona State

Florida has proved itself as one of the best teams in college basketball through 10 games. Here’s what Todd Golden and his Big 3 said after their most recent win.

Florida basketball moved to 10-0 on the season Saturday with a dominant win over a good Arizona State team.

Head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] and his three star guards — [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]., [autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] — spoke to the media after the win and touched on the team’s undefeated start, the contribution of the frontcourt and the increased emphasis on defense this season.

Here’s everything they said.

Opening Statement

Golden: Really proud of our players. I thought they did an incredible job of executing our game plan. (Assistant coach) John Andrzejek had the scout tonight, and I thought he did a wonderful job preparing our players. But then you have to go out and execute it, and Arizona State’s really good. So, for us to be able to do it at such a high level was impressive.

I thought we played well both halves. I thought in the second half we did a great job letting our defense lead us to transition and we were able to get in some spurts — getting some steals, getting some runouts, getting some dunks, and I thought our depth showed up really well tonight.

Sam (Alexis), Tommy (Haugh), Zel (Aberdeen) coming off the bench, providing great minutes. I just think our depth wore them down a little bit. But really proud of our players for the way we played and another really good win for us.

On improved 3-point shooting

Golden: Our whole mentality is we want to be really disciplined defensively, and we want to play with a lot of freedom on offense. It’s “to whom much is given, much is required,” and I think our guys have a good feel and understanding for that. And we were locked in defensively.

We held them to 37 (percent) from the field, guarded the three really well all night and getting those stops and then you get out in transition, you get to play in the open court. Obviously, we have really talented scorers and shooters, and our perimeter can really get going. But, yeah, I feel like our guys played with great freedom offensively today and that led to us having a really good night.

On sustained success for program, 10-0 start

Golden: We’re getting great efforts from multiple guys. We have good players, and they bought into each other, they play hard for each other and there’s no selfishness on this team right now. I think that’s a huge, huge key for our success up to this point but also moving forward, and we talk about it a lot.

I think it’s easier when you have three seniors that kind of lead you in that perimeter and have a great understanding that they can all have success at the same time. Or if they don’t, then it could be their night the next night. We’ve had that all year. Will scored 25 in a game, A-Mart scored 30 in a game, Walt scored 30 in a game. That unselfishness is contagious and for our younger guys, they look up to these guys playing together, and they can’t do anything other than that or they know they won’t be on the floor.

Our team has good chemistry. We have to continue it, though. It’s been good through 10; we’ve got to make sure it’s good on Tuesday night as well.

On the frontcourt

Golden: This group really complements each other very well. Our perimeter complements our frontcourt well and vice versa. I thought Rueben (Chinyelu) was really impactful defensively. I thought he did a great job on the glass. When you have a guy like Rueben that can guard Basheer Jihad and you don’t have to bring a double, it allows you to be solid and stay on the glass better.

Rueben, (Alex) Condo(n), Tommy, Sam, they’re all awesome players and they are all starter-level talents. Again, Sam and Tommy are coming off the bench, but they’re playing big-time minutes, they help us win every night and their time will come to be starters in our program. Just having that depth on the frontline makes us really tough.

Clayton: I don’t know if everybody really be knowing what Rueben, Condo, Tommy, all them guys. They’re down there banging all game. Just being physical, and a lot of physicality down low. It’s hard to do that for 40 minutes with them guys. Throughout the game, they’re just down there banging, banging, banging, and it gets to a point where the other team’s bigs break.

I appreciate our bigs, man. They do a lot for us.

On building on first-half lead

Golden: We didn’t finish the first half very well. To be honest, I thought we got content. We were up 13 or 15 and then didn’t play the end of the first half very well. We should have held for the last shot. We threw it ahead, got a jump ball that ended up basically being a turnover.

At halftime, we talked to our guys. We thought we did a good job shot making in the first half, but we didn’t think we played great in terms of finishing possession defensively and taking care of the ball. So we focused on those things in the second, as well as making sure we had another good effort on the glass.

We still had some turnovers, but for the majority of the half we played a really clean game and our defense was fantastic in the second half. We had five kills, which is three stops in a row, and holding Arizona (State) to under 40 from the field and under 30 from three is really tough to do.

Clayton: Just keep being physical, keep doing what we’re doing. They were going to break. We didn’t feel like they could hang with us the whole game, so just keep doing what you’re doing and wait for them to break.

On turning defense into offense

Martin: We’re just trying to focus more on the defensive end this year. We’ve got a very good offensive scheme and most teams aren’t going to be able to hang with us offensively, so if we get stops we’re just untouchable.

Clayton: It’s definitely taken a big step forward from last year. Last year, we were a great offensive team, bad defensive team. This year, I feel like we’re still a great offensive team, even better this year than last year because we’re turning so many defensive stops into buckets.

On three-point run at end of first half

Richard: just trying to be aggressive. We all put a lot of work in, put a lot of reps in. So, when we see those opportunities, we’ve got to take them and there were going in. It’s definitely good to get on a run like that.

Was Arizona State the best team you’ve faced this year?

Martin: It’s hard to say, but definitely a big shoutout to Arizona State. They’re a really good program. No discredit to any of the teams we’ve played, but that’s what good basketball looks like. Every night, it doesn’t matter who we’re playing

On preparing for North Carolina

Martin: Just knowing that we’re going into their territory. It’s going to be in North Carolina. They’re going to have a lot fans there. Just knowing it’s going to be a road and you’ve got to be strong mentally. These next upcoming practices, we’re going to have to really lock in and be strong mentally.

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Florida basketball dominates Arizona State in Atlanta for 10th-straight win

That’s 10 straight for the Florida Gators basketball team, who defeated Arizona State, 83-66, on Saturday in Atlanta.

Florida basketball moved to 10-0 on the season with a 83-66 victory over Arizona State on Saturday. The 10-game win streak is Florida’s longest since a 30-game stretch in 2013-14.

The Sun Devils made things competitive for the first five minutes, but a 12-0 run by the Gators put UF out in front enough to never look back. Arizona State pulled the margin down to single digits a few times, but Florida always answered and led by 11 or more for the final 18 minutes of the contest.

[autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. led all scorers with 25 points on 8-of-18 shooting, including a few three-pointers from NBA range (5-of-13). [autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] added 15 points (6-of-10), 11 rebounds and six assists, and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] had 16 points (5-of-12), six rebounds and two assists.

Based on the current NET rankings, this is Florida’s first Quadrant 1 victory of the season, which should come in handy come Selection Sunday. Arizona State must ranked inside the top 50 throughout the season — currently No. 35 — to remain a Q1 opponent on a neutral court.

Big 3 dominates for Florida

The trio of Clayton, Martin and Richard nearly outscored Arizona State with a combined 56 points. Todd Golden has talked about the benefits of having three elite scoring guards on the roster in the past, but it’s a rare occasion to see all three of these guys light it up on the same night.

Those kinds of performances are necessary for a team looking to make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament, and it’s encouraging to see it come against a Power Four opponent that’s ranked inside the top 100 nearly everywhere. The next challenge is replicating this kind of output against an SEC team.

Martin also recorded Florida’s second double-double of the season with 11 rebounds and added six assists. The only blemish on Florida’s big three are the six turnovers by Richard.

Defense, defense, defense

As good as Florida’s offense is, the defense might have been more impressive against ASU on Saturday. The Gators held the Sun Devils to 66 points and shut down five-star freshman Joson Sanon, who scored just five points after averaging nearly 16 on the season — and three of those came in garbage time against Florida’s backups.

Arizona State shot just 37% from the field and 28% from three-point range.

Florida has outscored opponents by 211 points over its first 10 games and has only allowed two teams to score more than 68 points — Florida State (74) and South Florida (83).

Golden stressed the importance of improved defense at the beginning of the season, and the Gators seem to get better on the side of the ball with each week.

Bigs don’t need to score to impact the game

Focusing on the negatives isn’t particularly useful after another big win, but it’s notable that Florida was able to dominate this matchup without a big scoring day from its frontcourt star, Alex Condon.

It was clear from an early point in the game that Condon didn’t have his touch around the rim, but he impacted the game with eight rebounds and a block.

The rest of the frontcourt followed suit. Rueben Chinyelu also grabbed eight boards to help Florida out-rebound Arizona State, 47-27, and Thomas Haugh was a nice defensive presence off the bench. Sam Alexis had some success around the rim, scoring eight for Florida, including an alley-oop slam late in the second half.

Good teams can’t rely on one guy to lead, and Florida continually proves that it has depth at every position.

Next up for Florida

The Gators head to Charlotte, North Carolina, to face the North Carolina Tar Heels on Tuesday, Dec. 17. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and the game will be broadcast on ESPN.

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Todd Golden breaks down Florida basketball win vs. FAMU

Florida beat FAMU by 24 points on Tuesday, but there are many areas where head coach Todd Golden would like to see his team improve. Here’s everything he said after the win.

Florida basketball is 5-0 to start the season, but head coach [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] wasn’t happy with his squad’s second-half effort against Florida A&M on Tuesday night.

“Look, I thought we played really well in the first half,” Golden opened his post-game press conference. “I thought we did a good job to get a 24-point lead, and I just thought in the second half we let our foot off the gas a little bit. Stylistically, I thought offensively we played pretty well.

“Obviously, we did not shoot it well. We missed 15 threes and I thought we allowed that to affect our defense a little bit in the second half, and we just fouled way too much on the defensive end — sent them to the line 19 times in the second half.”

Moving forward, the goal is to put forth a more competitive effort for the entirety of the game, starting with Friday’s matchup.

“Like I talked about with the guys in the locker room, our expectation is to be able to play two complete halves, play 40 minutes. I thought tonight, we played 20 really good minutes in the first half and then we were just okay in the second. A lot to improve upon. We’ll have some good film to break down tomorrow with the guys as we prepare for Southern Illinois on Friday.”

Florida has struggled to jump out to early leads the season, especially within the first five minutes of the game.  The Gators have not trailed at any point this season by the 15-minute mark of the first half, but they’ve only jumped out ahead early against Grambling State — tied against South Florida, up three against Jacksonville, up six against Grambling State, up one against Florida State and up four against FAMU

“I think we come out with the right mentality,” he said. “We haven’t played our best in the first four minutes. We did win the first mini-game. I think we were up 7-6, or whatever it was, but sometimes it does take you a couple possessions to get in the flow and to get comfortable. But I do believe our mentality was good and we had the right spirit about us coming out. We just didn’t play our best until kind of the middle of the first half.”

Strong finishes to each half

Despite the slow start to each half, Golden praised his team for putting a better effort together in the final minutes on both sides of the break.

“I was pleased with both (finishes to each half) for different reasons,” he said. “In the first half, to be able to extend (the lead) to 24 on a 19-2 run was awesome. Different guys stepped up and helped us create that lead. We challenged our guys (in the second half).

“The last eight minutes we were getting after them pretty good because we have bigger goals. Making sure we’re competitive for all 40 and not letting ourselves off the hook.

“In that last mini-game, we challenged them and said, ‘Listen, we’re not satisfied with how this game is ending right now. We have to find a way to spread it out a little bit,’ and we did. Again, we want to more complete, but in those specific situations, I thought we did a good job.”

Golden praises veteran leaders

The returning duo of [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] have helped keep the team level through these first five games, and Golden added FAU transfer [autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] into that group as well.

“I’d throw Alijah in there, too. He had 14 (points), nine (rebounds) and four (assists), no turnovers. Those guys, as you all know, we built this team with those three guys being the main cogs on the perimeter and guys we play off of and lead us with their veteran leadership and their experience,” he said.

“All three of those guys have scored 1,000 points in college, all are great shooters, tough, physical defenders and guys that understand how to win.”

Golden added that being able to rely on that trio allows him to make adjustments on the fly, even if it means giving them more minutes in a game that should be able to go to the backups.

“It gives you a lot of confidence as a coach to be able to rip those guys out there. When we’re at our best, they’re just playing, right? Like we’re getting stops, we’re getting clean rebounds and we’re getting out in transition and they’re just making plays.

“I had to play them a little more than I wanted to tonight to be able to make sure that we finished the game the right way but, yeah, it gives you a lot of comfort as a coach when you’re able to roll those guys out there.”

Martin stepped up in particular against FAMU, which speaks to his competitive nature as a player.

“It’s one of his best qualities, his competitiveness and his maturity in the way he attacks it,” Golden said. “First of all, he knows what winning is, playing in the Final Four (a year ago), and to have someone like him on the floor with Will and Walt that has that kind of mentality — this is all three of those guys’ last rip, and so the way they compete on a daily basis is really important.

“Alijah’s a guy that, regardless of what the score is, he’s going to compete at a high level. He’s not always going to be perfect, but he’s a guy I’d always want on my team. He’s always going to play the game the right way. I’ve seen his floor game improve dramatically since he’s been with us — another four-assist, zero-turnover night tonight. He’s just becoming a really complete basketball player this year.”

Thomas Haugh stepping up

With Sam Alexis out, [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag] played a season-high 28 minutes against Florida A&M. He made an argument for increased playing time by breaking the double-digit barrier in points and forcing a handful of turnovers.

“He’s the definition of a winning player,” Golden said. “He does all the quote-unquote little things that impact winning. He’s a guy that can switch defensively, he’s a very good rebounder, a really good ball mover and facilitator on the offensive end and he hit a couple shots tonight. Twelve (points), seven (rebounds), I guess two assists and three steals, he just finds ways to impact (the game). Plus-23 in 28 minutes.

“Without having Sam, without having Denzel (Aberdeen), obviously our bench was shortened and we needed a guy like Tommy to step up and play more minutes and we knew he’d be up to the task. He’s fantastic. He comes to play and compete every day, and he generally gives us a better chance to win when he’s on the floor.”

Other players stepping up off the bench

With Haugh taking the bulk of the extra minutes in the frontcourt, Golden split Aberdeen’s minutes between freshman [autotag]Isaiah Brown[/autotag] and first-year sophomore [autotag]Urban Klavzar[/autotag], who recently was cleared by the NCAA to play this season.

“I though Urby played well, he just didn’t shoot well,” Golden said. “I thought he played hard, I thought he defended well, had a good floor game with three assists, zero turnovers. I think for him it’s just going to take a little bit to get comfortable playing at this level — just kind of getting thrown into the mix early in the season, but I was pleased with his effort. Obviously, we want him to make a couple more shots but I was pleased with his effort.

“I thought Zay was awesome. I thought he did a really nice job at the end of the first half taking advantage of the minutes that he got in the last mini-game. Hit those two big threes that really extended it to 24. Got a great defensive stop at the end of the first half. Kind of was put in a one-on-one situation in the middle of the floor, moved his feet and kind of used his physicality to force a turnover.”

With the aforementioned trio of guards in the starting rotation all set to move on from Gainesville after this season, Golden is eyeing Brown as a potential replacement in the backcourt for 2025-26.

“Zay Brown is a guy we believe will be a great player here at Florida and obviously has some really good ones in front of him right now but as early as next year, we think he can be an impact player in a big way. I was happy for him that he got to play a little more tonight and proud of him for taking the opportunity.”

Off night for Alex Condon

Preseason All-SEC forward Alex Condon scored 14 points in the win, but he shot 3 of 14 from the field. A 7 of 8 night from the free-throw line saved him and he remained effective on the glass with nine rebounds, but the poor shooting performance as him at a season-low 12.2 points per game.

“I think tonight was hopefully a little bit of an aberration,” Golden said. “He was shooting like 85% from two coming into this game and tonight just had some bad breaks. Credit to FAMU, I thought they bothered him around the rim. They blocked a couple of his shots and didn’t go for a couple of his pump fakes. He kind of got caught in no-man’s land. But Condo is always playing hard.

“He didn’t have his best game, his most efficient game, but he’s always playing hard and competing his tail off. Got on the glass, protected the rim again, got two steals so, again, he found ways to impact winning, he just did not finish tonight. Hopefully as we kind of prepare for SIU, I think he’ll be better on Friday night that way.”

Transition offense good, but could be better

Florida dominated the fast-break against FAMU, but the Gators still aren’t knocking down all of the open shots they’re creating, especially from distance.

“That’s kind of who we are,” Golden said. “We want to get out in transition and score early in the clock, and to win that battle, 30-4, is important. To be honest, I thought we should have done a little better, in terms of what we were able to do on the offensive end. I do think that when we go back and watch, we missed some really good looks from three. I thought we maybe took three quick ones or ones that weren’t great shots, but for the most part I think we got some really great catch-and-shoot looks that we just didn’t knock down.

“Playing the percentages, I do believe that will go in our favor here shortly, especially with the guys that are taking those shots. It just hasn’t gone that way for us, but fortunately we’ve still been able to wins.”

Drawing fouls a positive for Florida

Florida has attempted 25 or more shots from the free throw line in all but one game so far this weekend. With the three-ball not falling as frequently as the Gators would like, the ability to draw fouls consistently has helped Florida stay out in front in most games.

“When you’re not shooting the ball well, you can go through spells where you have a lot of empty possessions. When you’re able to get to the line, I feel like that settles you a little bit. We shot it decent from the line, about 70% tonight, but that’s the most efficient way to score. You get to the line, it’s about 1.4 points per possession. It’s a good way to maintain consistency and not allow teams to go on runs against you.”

On the flip side of that coin, Florida got in some foul trouble during the second half, which hurt its ability to extend the lead.

“To be honest, that’s why we were having so much trouble keeping FAMU down in the second half. We just let them get to the line 19 times, and to their credit, they made 85% of them. Our field-goal percentage on defense was great, 34 from the field, they only shot 24 from three, but that free-throw percentage for them was the equalizer and allowed them to play us even in the second half.”

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Three takeaways from Florida’s blowout win against FAMU

Florida took care of business Tuesday night against the FAMU Rattlers, with the Gators winning by 24 points despite a lackluster second half.

Florida (5-0) continues its undefeated start to the 2024-25 college basketball season Tuesday night with an 84-60 victory over the Florida A&M Rattlers (0-4).

The Gators came into the game favored by more than 30 points, even without two key members of the rotation, but a competitive second half kept the margin of victory at a clean two dozen. Guard Denzel Aberdeen and forward Sam Alexis missed the contest due to illness, opening the door for [autotag]Isaiah Brown[/autotag] and [autotag]Urban Klavzar[/autotag] to see some more action.

[autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] led all scorers with 20 points on 8-for-15 shooting (3-for-9 from distance) and added seven rebounds (five offensive) to his stat sheet. [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. trailed Richard with 17 points (7-for-13, 3-for-7 3PT) and five assists, but ended the night with four fouls.

[autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] (14 points) and [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag] (12 points) both reached double figures, with the latter being one of three Gators to secure nine rebounds — the other being frontcourt starters [autotag]Rueben Chinyelu[/autotag] and [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag].

Florida’s early-season three-point struggles continued in the victory, but the Gators cleaned up their turnover problem a bit as a tradeoff.

Improved ball-handling

The biggest takeaway from the expected blowout comes from the turnover margin. Florida forced 15 turnovers and gave the ball up just seven times. Head coach Todd Golden came into Friday’s matchup against Florida State hoping for 12 or fewer turnovers but got 19 instead.

Although Florida A&M is not as competitive of a matchup as FSU, it’s a big positive to see Florida keep its giveaways in single digits against a lesser opponent.

Even more encouraging is seeing Clayton turn the ball over just once after back-to-back games with four. He’s working on distributing the ball more to impress NBA scouts, but players often rack up more turnovers while trying to pad the assists column in the scorebook. Clayton finished the night with five assists, his second-best figure of the season after a seven-assist outing against Jacksonville.

Increased minutes for Brown, Klavzar

With Aberdeen and Alexis out, Golden needed to spread out 35 minutes among his other players. Brown and Klavzar were the main benefactors of the extra time, but Haugh and Chinyelu also got some extra playing time in the frontcourt rotation.

Klavzar played 15 minutes and Brown saw eight, but the two guards played very different games. Klavzar played a distributor role, finding three teammates for assists, and struggled to shoot the ball, making just one of seven attempts and going 0-for-4 from three-point range.

Brown was far more efficient, draining both of his three-point attempts and hitting 3 of 4 shots from the free-throw line. With Florida set to lose all three of its starting guards after this season, it’s easy to see Klavzar fitting in at the ‘1’ and Brown at the ‘2’ if they continue to improve over the next year.

Second-half effort lacking

It’s hard to complain about a 24-point win, but Florida didn’t play its best basketball in the second half. It’s almost as if the Gators came out of the half content with the margin and allowed themselves to play a sloppier brand of hoops than Golden would have liked.

Florida fouled 12 times in the second half to just five in the first and shot 3-for-18 (16.7%) from deep after making 7 of 16 (43.8%) before the break. Even the turnovers came more frequently — two in the first half and five in the second.

In fact, the only column where the Gators improved after halftime was rebounds (27 to 20), and many of those came on the offensive end following errant shots.

This team hasn’t proven itself enough to get lazy. Expect Golden to address the issue in practice this week in hopes of getting a 40-minute effort on Friday against Southern Illinois.

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Instant takeaways from Florida basketball’s win against Florida State

Walter Clayton Jr. takes the Florida State rivalry personally and his 25 points helped the Gators come out on top against the Seminoles on Friday night.

Florida took down rival Florida State on the hardwood Friday night, 87-74, in a game that could have been a 20-point blowout but stayed within range until a pair of dagger threes in the final minutes.

[autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. led all scorers with 25 points, followed by [autotag]Alijah Martin[/autotag] with 17 and [autotag]Sam Alexis[/autotag] with 12 for Florida. Seminoles star Jamir Watkins scored 19, and three other Florida State players reached double figures.

The biggest difference between the two squads was the physicality Florida played with, made evident by an 18-rebound differential at the final buzzer. [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] missed his first double-double of the season by three points, but he dominated the boards all night.

Despite the 13-point margin on the scoreboard, Florida did not play its best basketball. The Gators turned the ball over 19 times, giving the Seminoles 16 points off turnovers. [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] set a goal of 12 or fewer ahead of the game, and Florida made this game closer than it needed to be by exceeding that total.

Still, a win is a win, especially when it comes against Florida State — even though the Seminoles haven’t won this matchup since the 2020 season.

The Gators move to 4-0 on the season with a chance to close out the first month of the season undefeated. Florida A&M, Southern Illinois and Wake Forest remain on the schedule.

Walter Clayton Jr. likes playing Florida State

Clayton dropped 19 against Florida State last year and didn’t hold back when discussing his feelings on the Seminoles in the post-game press conference. He followed that performance up with a 25-point outburst, most of which (12) came during the bookends of the game.

A shoot-first guard, Clayton can take over games when he needs to for Florida. The Gators have several scoring options, but Clayton can stroke it from deep and drive the lane when the defense gives it to him. He’s also 12-of-13 this year from the free-throw line, which means there’s no way to stop him from scoring without forcing a turnover.

Against Grambling State and Jacksonville, Clayton seemed more focused on distributing the ball rather than scoring. Tonight, he wanted to outplay Watkins and lead his team to a convincing victory. His team-high plus-minus of 15 confirms he was the X-factor in this win.

Another dominant night on the boards

Florida State has some big bodies down low, and they play defense better than other teams Florida has seen this year. But the Seminoles were no match for the Gators on the boards.

Florida’s 47 rebounds against FSU are the most so far this season, surpassing the 45 grabbed against Grambling State at the beginning of the week. Condon is the biggest contributor, securing 11 defensive rebounds and one offensive. He simply out-physicals the other big bodies in the paint, and those 12 boards came over just 28 minutes.

Not to be forgotten is [autotag]Thomas Haugh[/autotag], who had five defensive rebounds and four offensive for a total of nine over 20 minutes off the bench. It’s a luxury for Todd Golden to be able to rotate these two in and out, and there’s really no need for them to see the floor at the same time except for the fact that they are best friends.

[autotag]Rueben Chinyelu[/autotag] matched his season-high with six rebounds (three defensive, three offensive), and all three starting guards — Clayton, Martin and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] — added five apiece to the team total. When you get that kind of production on the glass from your starting five, it’s pretty easy to find a path to victory.

Too many turnovers

The scary about wins like this for Florida is that the Gators aren’t playing their best basketball. Clayton, Condon and Chinyelu all turned the ball over four times, and Martin added three more. Urban Klavzar traveled on his first touch of the season, and Denzel Aberdeen threw the ball to waste a possession.

And the Gators still won by 13 points.

There’s no doubt that the turnover margin needs to be cleaned up, but there’s reason to be excited about a team that can overcome a 19-8 differential with relative ease.

Richard was the only starter without a turnover tonight and it’s because he’s not a primary ball handler. Clayton’s trying a little too hard to prove he can dish the rock, and Martin is the second option. With Klavzar in the mix, it might be wise to let him take the ball up more, but he only played five minutes tonight. Aberdeen is another option at the point.

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Three takeaways from Florida’s home-opening win over Jacksonville

The Gators looked sloppy at times, but it was a big night for Alex Condon on Monday as Florida moved to 2-0 with a win over Jacksonville.

Florida basketball took down Jacksonville, 81-60, in its home opener Thursday night.

Despite winning by more than 20 points, the victory was much sloppier than Florida’s season-opening win against South Florida on Monday. The two-headed monster of [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] combined for just 20 points on 9-for-20 shooting after putting up 50-plus three days ago.

The good news is two other starters, [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] and Alijah Martin, picked up the slack and carried the offense.

Jacksonville hung around a lot longer than it should have in this one, signaling there is still much work to do on defense for Todd Golden’s squad. Still, a win is a win, and the Gators are 2-0 heading into the weekend.

Career night for Condo

[autotag]Alex Condo[/autotag]n put up a career-high 23 points on 7-of-7 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers. He got to the line often but only made seven of his 12 attempts. Most big men are looking for 70% at the stripe, and Condon has some touch for a 6-foot-11-inch guy.

Even with the poor performance from the stripe, Condon was dominant on offense. Securing just one rebound on the evening is another red flag, but it’s still early in the season. Condon added two blocks and two assists to fill up his stat sheet, though.

It’s not the most complete performance from Condon we’ll see this year, but it’s very good to know he can play without fouling — he committed zero after getting into early foul trouble Monday — and score when others aren’t.

Off night for Clayton?

Speaking of guys who didn’t score as much as expected, Walter Clayton Jr. was unusually quiet from the field for a guy who is considered Florida’s best scorer. Calyton only took eight shots, five of which came from deep. After sinking an early three, Clayton went cold, leading to a nine-point finish.

He had a nice poster dunk in the game’s final minutes to make the highlight reel, but Florida will be at its best when he’s scoring. With that said, it’s possible Clayton’s focus tonight was on distributing the ball. He finished the night with seven assists and just one turnover.

It wasn’t really an off night if you look at the big picture, but it’s not the style of play we’re used to seeing from Clayton.

Sam Alexis off the bench

After just two games with Florida, it appears that [autotag]Sam Alexis[/autotag] is an X-factor off the bench for the Gators. He has a bad habit of taking ill-advised deep shots, but his post-work and rebounding prowess more than make up for it.

It’s hard to see him moving into the starting lineup with Condon as the star in the frontcourt and Rueben Chinyelu playing that big-man role, but the latter has only played 35 minutes over two games. That leaves plenty of time for Alexis and Thomas Haugh to rotate in and out with him.

Alexis finished the night with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting (0-2 from deep) and seven rebounds (two offensive boards). He also rejected four shots over just 15 minutes on the court. That kind of efficiency on defense and the boards is going to get him more time in the rotation.

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Three takeaways from Florida basketball’s season-opening win over USF

It took a little while for the Gators to get going, but Florida looked like the No. 21 team in the country (or better) in its season opener vs. USF.

Florida men’s basketball opened the 2024-25 season with a 98-83 win over the South Florida Bulls on Monday.

[autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. led all scorers with 29 points, followed closely by [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag], emphasizing the impact the returning duo had on the team. Four of the five Gators starters finished the game in double figures, with [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] giving eight off the bench.

Florida won the rebounding battle 37-32, even with starting forward [autotag]Alex Condon[/autotag] on the bench for nearly half the game thanks to some foul trouble. Clayton finished the game with four fouls as well, but the bigger news is that he hobbled off the court in the closing moments of the game.

Perhaps he didn’t need to be out there with a 15-point lead and two minutes to go, but the Gators only played eight against a tough USF squad that led at the half.

Double-headed monster dominates

Getting back Walter Clayton Jr. and Will Richard is a huge deal for Florida. The veteran duo combined for 54 points on 20-of-32 (62.5%) shooting for the Gators, 33 of which came in the second half. Elite players take over in the final 10 minutes, and that’s exactly what Clayton did. He missed just one shot in the second half and scored seven from the line to put the game out of reach.

Richard is the X-factor of this team. If he’s not on, there’s little hope for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament come the spring. He took 10 minutes to get going but got hot in the middle 20. A 2-for-7 night from deep isn’t ideal, but he put up solid all-around numbers.

Alijah Martin, who transferred from FAU, has a chance to be the third head of this monster, but he struggled shooting the ball tonight. A 3-for-12 night with zero makes on six attempts from deep isn’t going to cut it in SEC play. Fortunately, Martin’s best tool, his defense, was on full display with four steals on the night.

First-game jitters evaporate in second half

Even though Florida won the game by double digits, it wasn’t smooth sailing for the Gators all night long. In fact, the Orange and Blue trailed by 13 with 6 minutes left in the first half, and USF entered halftime with a one-point lead.

Taking nothing away from the Bulls — who were raining down threes at a torrid pace early — Florida seemed a bit skittish to start the season. Clayton, Martin and Richard forced shots, hitting just five of the team’s first seven attempts. Then, the big men, [autotag]Sam Alexis[/autotag] and Alex Condon, found success in the paint, opening things up for the backcourt to score.

The same thing happened once [autotag]Denzel Aberdeen[/autotag] checked into the game. The offense looked rushed and a bit lost, leading to a 1-for-9 stretch. Once again, Condon scored two buckets down low, sparking a barrage from Clayton and Richard.

No such magic was needed in the second half, though. Condon got into foul trouble quickly after the break, but Clayton started to attack the rim. The Gators went on one four-shot cold streak in the in the first five minutes of the half, but they only missed consecutive shots once more through the rest of the game.

It’s not too concerning to see some of those early struggles. This is a new team with new roles, even if 60% of last year’s points return to the lineup. Chalk it up to first-half jitters and commend the team for figuring it out before things got too ugly.

Living at the (free throw) line

Florida’s free throw success was a major reason for the second-half comeback. Good teams know how to get the line, and the Gators missed just one of its first 20 shots at the stripe. A couple of late misses led to a 27-of-33 finish at the charity line, but Clayton was a perfect 7-of-7 and the bigs were 7-of-9.

Alijah Martin missed three of his 10 attempts, which could be cleaned up a bit, but it’s a positive to see him getting to the line frequently on a night he struggled in the field.

It may seem minor, but good free throw discipline is one of many small signs that the Gators are a legitimate threat to finish the season ranked for the first time since 2020. There are still 30 games to go in the regular season, though, so let’s not put the cart before the horse just yet.

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Will Richard recaps Florida basketball’s preseason one week out from opener

The college basketball season is just a few days away, and Florida’s Will Richard believes the Gators will be special in Year 3 under Todd Golden.

Florida basketball begins its 2024-25 season on Nov. 4, and the team is ready to take yet another step forward in Year 3 of the [autotag]Todd Golden[/autotag] era.

Senior guard [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] spoke to the media on Friday three days out from the season opener and expressed a tremendous amount of confidence as preseason workouts conclude.

“Energy and effort, everybody being on the same page as far as the way we start practice. I feel like we’ve been very sharp so obviously just carrying that forward and making sure everybody is ready to go.”

Florida has played two scrimmages together, and the team is beginning to gel. Everyone is on the same page with a common goal to win more than they did last season, and the early returns are encouraging.

“We’re all around each other all the time,” he said. “And on the court, Alijah (Martin) is fitting in perfectly. Kajus (Kublickas) and Urban, they’ve been doing a good job. So it’s been very good. Chemistry’s definitely there.”

That chemistry has led to two wins during preseason scrimmages.

“FIU, we started off the first half a little slow,” he sad. “It was the first time playing somebody else but (in the) second half we got going, and then I felt like last Saturday (against Charleston) was a much better team performance as far as how we attacked the game.

“We dominated on the glass, we were good on defense, so I felt like it was a big jump from the first scrimmage to this one.”

There’s an eagerness to get the season started in Gainesville. Richard says this is the best team he’s been on and that the expectation is to do something special this year.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “This offseason, we’ve just spent the last five months preparing and getting ready for this. So, I definitely can’t wait for that moment to finally get out there.”

Defensive improvements

Golden mentioned that the defensive portion of practice is the most rigorous part, but Richard says it’s a challenge he welcomes.

“It’s been a very good part of practice for me because doing the predraft stuff, those are some of the things that they said I need to work on, so I try to take those as seriously as possible. I know that it’s something we were deficient in last year, I know it will help us out moving forward.”

Richard believes there is a “night and day” difference between the team’s level of preparation on defense this year compared to last. Areas of improvement include “continuing defensive possessions where there are rotations” and ball-screen communication.

The team is getting to their spots better in practice, whether the plan is to ice the ball to the sidelines or weaken the middle.

Richard ready for bounce-back offensive year

After dipping below 35 percent from three-point range last year, Richard is hoping to bounce back offensively in 2024-25. He rarely misses in practice these days and says the basket is looking bigger as his shot becomes more consistent.

“I felt like it was a little bit of a mechanical issue (last season),” he said. “I was bringing the ball too inward and it was going up so I was missing left and right. This time, I’m trying to keep it more on the right side. So it was definitely mechanical. I got to fix that when I went back home with my trainers.”

There will be struggles, of course, but as a veteran in the program, Richard believes he’ll be able to impact the game even when his shot isn’t falling.

“I’m way more mature with how my game is,” he said. “I know my shot is a good part of my game, but that doesn’t define the rest of the game for me. So, if my shot is not going, I can impact the game in a number of different ways.”

The coaching staff is also finding new ways for Richard to get open looks, which should help him sustain a rhythm. The roster also has more depth than in previous years. Having multiple shot-creators will open the floor for Richard to strike more often.

Richard’s relationship with late USF coach Amir Abdur-Rahim

Richard also spoke about his relationship with former USF basketball Amir Abdur-Rahim, who recently passed away suddenly. Abdur-Rahim recruited Richard out of high school while at Kennesaw State and offered council when he hit the transfer portal after his freshman year at Belmont.

“I was definitely a little shaken up by (his passing),” he said. “… when I entered the transfer portal, he called me, and he was just like, ‘I’m not recruiting you to Kennesaw. I just want you to know that I’m here for you if you need any advice,’ …  and he was really one of the reasons I came (to Florida).”

Abdur-Rahim believed Florida was a good fit for him since he was familiar with the coaching staff, and told Richard what questions to ask on his visit to Gainesville.

“He’s a great guy, and we feel for those guys,” he said. “I played against a lot of them in high school because they went from Kennesaw State. So I reached out and told them our prayers and stuff were with them … He was one of those guys who definitely was genuine and believed in you. So it’s tough.”

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‘We feel good’: Todd Golden previews Florida basketball season

Gators men’s basketball coach Todd Golden likes where the team’s at leading up to the season-opener.

Florida men’s basketball head coach Todd Golden shared an optimistic outlook on his team’s progress on Thursday, praising his players’ effort, commitment and development during a very productive training camp.

Entering his third year with the Gators, Golden emphasized the depth of the team’s roster as well as the team’s balanced offensive potential and ability to perform under pressure. With a focus on reaching top-40 defensive status, Golden is confident that Florida will shape into a strong, cohesive group poised for success as they prepare for their season-opening game against South Florida on Nov. 4.

Golden met with the media on Thursday and these are some things to take away from what he said.

Feelings on where the team’s at right now

“We feel good about where we’re at. I think we’ve had a good training camp. Feel like the guys have done a really good job of working collectively towards being ready to go for the beginning of the year. I thought we weren’t necessarily great in our first scrimmage, some positive things, but some things we need to do better.

“I thought we were better this past Saturday, just more complete, a little more physical, better on the glass. Looked more like the group that we want to be over the course of the year. So I think we’re tracking, but until we play the real games, TBD.”

The health of the team

“We’re in pretty good shape. I think as of today, we’ll have everybody lined up and ready to go for next week. Obviously, it’s end of training camp. Guys have bumps and bruises, some some soreness here and there. But overall, big picture we’re in good shape heading into the opener.”

Alijah Martin’s preseason performance vs. Charleston

“He played fantastic, obviously, was very efficient. I thought was impactful, not just scoring the ball, though, in all areas, did a great job defending and getting on the glass. And that’s kind of the benefit of having that perimeter with Walt (Clayton Jr.), Will (Richard), Alijah (Martin), Denzel (Aberdeen).

“These guys are all potent. They can all get you 20 (points) on any given night. Just having the ability to take advantage of a matchup where maybe a weaker defender is guarding one of those guys is going to benefit us all year. They’ve continued to be unselfish and play together.

“Saturday was Alijah’s turn. Monday, it could be Will’s or Walt’s or Denzel’s. We’ll see what it looks like. But I really think that’s going to be kind of the most important part of our success this season is that those guys continue to be unselfish. If they do that, we should be fine.”

Striving to be just as good on defense as on offense

“Just continuing to build off of our offensive success last year and, like we’ve talked about a lot, just making sure we can get in the ballpark defensively of being a really good team. Our goal internally is to be a top-40 defense. I think we were 91 or two or three on KenPom so that’s a big jump. That’s not going to be easy to do.

“But, I do think if we’re able to accomplish that, it will give us a good landing spot for where we want to go. Obviously, the defensive side of the ball being much better but without sacrificing any of the growth we’ve made on the offensive side of the ball.”

Feeling good on the team’s depth

“Yeah, I am. I think our roster’s continued to improve every year. I think depth is something that we have this year, obviously. We gotta stay healthy also. That’s really important. But guys like Kajus (Kublickas) now being a second year player. I feel better about his ability to help us in games.

“Isaiah Brown is a playable freshman. He’s a guy that’s capable. He’s behind some really talented older guys in front of him, but if we had an injury or if we had an issue, I think Isaiah could be more than serviceable out there and our front court’s deep right now with those four guys. So I feel good about that. But you can never have enough, for sure.”

Walter Clayton’s preseason accolades

“He’s been great. I think Walt (Clayton) is a guy that has a lot of confidence regardless. I think whether he was named preseason Naismith or not, he was going to be very confident in his abilities in a good way. So I think he takes it in stride.

“I think he appreciates the recognition, but he understands that at the end of the day, it’s more important to be on that list at the end of the year than it is at the beginning. And it’s gonna be very important that our team has a lot of success for him to continue to be recognized as well as other guys in a program like Will or Elijah.”

Florida basketball season opener

The Gators will face the South Florida Bulls in the Jacksonville Sports Foundation Invitational to open the schedule on Monday, Nov. 4 in Jacksonville. The game will be broadcast on the SEC Network and can be heard on the Gators Sports Network.

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Florida basketball ranked No. 21 in preseason AP Poll

For the first time since 2019, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team will begin the regular season as a ranked team.

For the first time since 2019, the Florida Gators men’s basketball team will begin the regular season as a ranked team. The Associated Press released its preseason Top 25 poll on Monday, and the Orange and Blue check in at No. 21 in the country entering Year 3 of the Todd Golden era.

Florida briefly appeared in last year’s poll, occupying the No. 24 spot for two weeks in February. A first-round exit in the NCAA Tournament meant the Gators finished outside of the top 25, but retaining guards [autotag]Walter Clayton Jr[/autotag]. and [autotag]Will Richard[/autotag] has UF starting off the season higher than any point last season.

Florida joins eight other SEC programs in the preseason AP Poll — No. 2 Alabama, No. 11 Auburn, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 13 Texas A&M, No. 16 Arkansas, No. 19 Texas, No. 23 Kentucky and No. 24 Ole Miss. The Gators will face each of those teams during the regular season.

No. 9 North Carolina is also on Florida’s schedule this year, and three more opponents earned votes in the preseason poll.

Florida begins its season with a neutral site matchup on Nov. 4 against South Florida in Jacksonville. The home opener is three days later against Jacksonville University.

Preseason AP Top 25 Poll

Rank Team Record Trend Points
1 Kansas 0-0 – 1,449 (30)
2 Alabama 0-0 – 1,428 (14)
3 UConn 0-0 – 1,345 (11)
4 Houston 0-0 – 1,343 (4)
5 Iowa State 0-0 – 1,177
6 Gonzaga 0-0 – 1,157 (1)
7 Duke 0-0 – 1,154
8 Baylor 0-0 – 1,109
9 North Carolina 0-0 – 1,037
10 Arizona 0-0 – 905
11 Auburn 0-0 – 901
12 Tennessee 0-0 – 775
13 Texas A&M 0-0 – 737
14 Purdue 0-0 – 678
15 Creighton 0-0 – 631
16 Arkansas 0-0 – 625
17 Indiana 0-0 – 492
18 Marquette 0-0 – 484
19 Texas 0-0 – 332
20 Cincinnati 0-0 – 271
21 Florida 0-0 – 249
22 UCLA 0-0 – 210
23 Kentucky 0-0 – 191
24 Ole Miss 0-0 – 132
25 Rutgers 0-0 – 102

Others receiving votes

Illinois 92, St. John’s 91, Xavier 73, Texas Tech 58, Wake Forest 37, Kansas St 30, Michigan St. 29, Ohio St. 29, Michigan 19, BYU 14, Oregon 12, McNeese St. 11, Miami 11, Boise St. 9, Saint Louis 9, Clemson 9, Providence 9, Mississippi St. 6, VCU 6, Wisconsin 5, Saint Mary’s 5, Louisville 4, UAB 4, Ark Little Rock 3, Grand Canyon 3, Arizona St 2, San Diego St. 2, Princeton 2, High Point 1, Maryland 1.

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